


A Sticky Situation

by squishfics



Category: IT (2017)
Genre: College AU kinda, Eddie has a potty mouth, M/M, Neighbors AU, One Shot, and richie has a trashmouth as always, eddie deals with his feelings by acting angry, eddie is dumb and doesn't think anything of it, eddie thinks so anyway, he pretty much hates him, how to tag for dummies, nice and fluffy, oblivious boy, pretty much your standard reddie dynamic, richie blatantly flirts, richie is an annoying neighbor, they're both in college but it's not actually about college
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-06
Updated: 2018-07-06
Packaged: 2019-06-01 03:29:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15134096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/squishfics/pseuds/squishfics
Summary: “Well hello, gorgeous. Not that I’m complaining, but I don’t remember ordering a booty call? What’s your name, sweet cheeks?” The stranger spoke up, that grin easily morphing into a smirk. It was actually astounding, how quickly his demeanor changed from goofy to flirty. Eddie could almost see the mischief sparkling in those big eyes of his.But, no. Eddie Kaspbrak was a strong gay. He wasn’t going to let a guy talk him out of his anger just because his stupid face was pretty.





	A Sticky Situation

**Author's Note:**

> Hihi. I shouldn't be writing other stuff while I still have a chaptered fic in progress, oops. But I swear I am working on that, too, this just got finished quicker than the latest chapter for that because this idea wouldn't get out of my head.
> 
> A lot of this was written at almost one in the morning, so I apologize for any mistakes as I did not proof read this. Proof reading means having to read my own writing more than once and I'm not down for that considering I usually hate it the first time already. But I hope you enjoy! 
> 
> Arachnophobes beware.

               There were a lot of things in life that Eddie wasn’t sure about, but if he was abso-fucking-lutely positive of one thing, it was that he hated his neighbor. With a burning passion.

                At nineteen, he’d been so excited to finally move out of his mother’s house, to be on the road to independence. College had been a big first step of that, yes, but living on his own was huge. His mom was very reluctant to let him go, but when it came down to it, she didn’t really have a say in the matter. He’d long since stopped letting her control his life choices. She did her best to make him stay, begging and pleading, even bringing out the water works, but Eddie insisted that he needed to do it and had found himself the ideal place before long.

                Now, the apartment complex itself wasn’t anything extravagant. In fact, it was on the smaller side and the yard surrounding it wasn’t that kept up with. But it was very close to his college’s campus and within his budget as a working student (an actual college dorm was out of the question, he _refused_ to share a bathroom with a whole floor of strangers). The apartment was the size you’d expect from looking at the building as a whole. It boasted only a single bedroom, a full bathroom, a kitchen, and a living room. There was nothing particularly exceptional about it, with off white walls and polished wooden floors lining the living room and the short hallway to the bedroom. The bedroom had a faded, light brown carpet and two big windows that let in plenty of sunlight during the day. As for the kitchen and bathroom, both were complete with tiled floors and equipped with all the appliances a basic furnished apartment came with. It was the perfect picture of mediocrity.

                Moving in was a long struggle throughout the day, having to take box after box of things from his car into his apartment. He was just thankful his apartment was on the first of two floors. There was no way he’d be making it up the stairs with those things. By the time he had everything inside, he was exhausted. But his skin was already itching at the thought of leaving everything unpacked for the night. He hated disorganization. There was no way he’d be able to sleep that night if he just left his place like the mess it was. So he’d gone through the motions of unpacking and putting everything in its rightful place. It was a full day process, one that he’d started at ten in the morning that day and was only just then finishing up around nine that evening. All that was left was grocery shopping the next day and he was set.

                His dinner of a few granola bars wasn’t overly satisfying, but it was all the food he’d had with him and he was just too tired to wait for delivery. Not to mention he always got very flustered with the delivery people and he never knew what to tip. It would just be…a whole ordeal. One he didn’t want to deal with when he felt like dropping to the floor right there and passing the fuck out.

                So once his granola bars were eaten, teeth brushed, and pajamas on, he let himself fall onto his new bed, a heavy sigh escaping him. His eyes fluttered shut, fatigue weighing down every bone in his body until he wasn’t sure how the mattress was even holding up so well. He felt like he weighed a ton with his muscles so sore and tired. He slowly had begun to doze off, lips parted just slightly to let out soft puffs of breath.

                Naturally, that’s when it started.

                Loud music poured into his bedroom from the apartment directly next to his. At first, he tried to give them the benefit of the doubt. Surely they’d turn it down soon when they realized what time it is? But as time went on, the music didn’t cease. Burying his face in his pillow did nothing to block it out, leaving Eddie to groan loudly in annoyance. He’d always had somewhat of a short temper, even more so when he was tired, and he could already feel his blood boiling. Every beat of the music had his heart speeding up until his whole face felt hot with anger. Finally, Eddie flung the blankets off of himself and stormed to his front door.

                Flinging it open, he stomped into the hallway and began slamming his fist against his neighbor’s door. It probably would have hurt if he wasn’t so pissed. It was all he could think about.

                The door pulled open within seconds, revealing a man around Eddie’s age. He had a head full of black, messy curls, freckles dotting across his cheeks and the bridge of his nose, and his eyes looked wider than they probably were behind the thick frames of the glasses he was wearing. He looked way too happy for someone who’d just disturbed Eddie’s sleep, a goofy grin frozen on plush lips as his eyes slowly scanned over Eddie’s body.

                Fuck. He forgot he was wearing his pajamas. He probably looked ridiculous with his hair sticking up, a bad case of bed head, and an oversized t-shirt almost covering a small pair of shorts.

                “Well hello, gorgeous. Not that I’m complaining, but I don’t remember ordering a booty call? What’s your name, sweet cheeks?” The stranger spoke up, that grin easily morphing into a smirk. It was actually astounding, how quickly his demeanor changed from goofy to flirty. Eddie could almost see the mischief sparkling in those big eyes of his.

                But, no. Eddie Kaspbrack was a strong gay. He wasn’t going to let a guy talk him out of his anger just because his stupid face was pretty.

                Well aware that his own face was flushed pink, his eyebrows furrowed together and he gestured towards the inside of his apartment angrily. A tiny huff managed to slip from his lips, too.

                “What the fuck? Your fucking music, it’s literally eleven at night. Turn it off!” He practically growled, sounding more like a peeved kitten than anything, really. It wasn’t his fault his voice wasn’t particularly threatening.

                The guy looked taken aback by his angry outburst at first, or maybe he just wasn’t used to people ignoring his flirting, who fucking knew. Either way, he recovered pretty quickly and let out a short bark of laughter.

                “Woah, sweet cheeks has some spice! Chill out, dude. It’s not that late. Building rules, we don’t have to be quiet until midnight. And I don’t hear anyone else complaining. Did you just move in or something?”

                “Brilliant observation, genius. You have one apartment next to yours that’s presumably been empty until this point and now suddenly a guy knocks on your door and says he’s your neighbor. How could you have ever put together that I’m _new_ to the building?” Eddie snarked. Now to be fair, he wasn’t usually so ruthlessly snippy, but he was totally wiped out and this guy was over here playing loud music and being annoyingly attractive.

                Eddie was expecting a lot of reactions. Anger, annoyance, maybe some hurt, but all he got was a look of pure amusement. Did he…did he find Eddie’s anger _funny_? The thought made his blood boil.

                “And my name isn’t sweetcheeks, so quit callin’ me that.” He quickly added on before curly could speak up again. His neighbor’s eyebrows twitched upwards with interest, head tilting to the side. As if he didn’t already look enough like a puppy, god.

                “Oh yeah? What is your name then?”

                “I— Eddie. I mean— Shut up, it doesn’t matter. Just turn the music off, I’m trying to sleep.”

                “I’m Richie. I’d say nice to meet you, Eds, but you really haven’t been very nice! I’m sure you could make it up to me in a few different ways, though…”

                He felt heat spreading across his face in an instant and for some reason, knowing the guy made him blush that easily was almost more infuriating than his music.

                “Keep talking to me like that and I’ll boil your god damn teeth. Turn the music off!” _Boil his teeth? That was the worst threat in history_ , Eddie thought with a grimace. “And it’s _Eddie,_ not Eds.”

               He didn’t wait for an answer this time, tired of the arguing, and simply turned on his heel to stomp back to his own apartment. As he was walking away, he heard Richie call after him.

                “Ooo, who knew you were such a good dirty talker? See you in my dreams, Eds!”

                He rolled his eyes, ignoring the heat that had once again pooled in his cheeks. He told himself it was just because the hallway was hot, no other reason whatsoever. Nope.

                Entering his new apartment once again, Eddie didn’t feel any better than he had leaving. In fact, he was kind of worse, but there was no reasoning with the weirdo next door. He resolved to call the police if the noise continued past midnight, but until then he’d just have to deal with it.

                With a sigh, he crawled back into bed and slid some earbuds in, playing softer music that could distract from the loudness next door and help him sleep. It did the trick and had him dozing in no time. He was oblivious to the music being turned down well before midnight ever came around.

* * *

 

                As the weeks went on, things continued pretty much the same between Eddie and Richie. Eddie had basically made up his mind about Richie based on first impressions and, being the short stack of fury he was, easily held a grudge. It was like he only acknowledged all the bad in Richie now that he felt that way towards him, none of the good. He refused to appreciate that, although Riche still often played music loudly, it was always suspiciously quiet around the time Eddie went to bed. An upstairs neighbor of theirs had even commented on how unusual it was one time when he was walking his dog and Eddie was on his way out to work.

                He _also_ ignored the fact that Richie always wished him a good day or night whenever he saw Eddie coming in or leaving because the guy always had some stupid nickname to go along with it.

                _Off to work? Have a good day, cupcake._

                _You look tired, honeybun. Sleep well tonight._

                _Bye, Eds, have an awesome day!_

                _‘Night, Eddie Spaghetti._

               That last one was by far the worst of them all. Eddie never responded except for a swift flip of the bird towards his neighbor or a snide remark about how bright Richie’s shirt was. He wasn’t a rude person, he swore, Richie just rubbed him the wrong way. And ugh, he could already hear the man making a suggestive joke about that, now he was in his head, too!?

                Richie hung out so much in the hall, sometimes alone and sometimes with his buddies _(who weren’t actually that bad, he really liked Bill)_ , that when Eddie came home from work that day to an empty hall, it was kind of a shock. And, though he’d never admit it, a bit disappointing.

                Wait, what? Why would it be disappointing? Eddie hated when Richie greeted him each day.

                …Right?

                Shrugging the weird thought off, he simply unlocked his apartment door and shuffled inside, the smell of coffee still clinging to him. He was totally a college student cliché, working at one of his campus’s book and coffee shops to get by with the occasional small but helpful check from his mom (as messed up as it sounded, that was the only thing that kept him from breaking off contact with her completely). If it were his choice, he’d rather work at a store that was just about the books. Or maybe a library, something like that. The people that came for books were usually more quiet and well-mannered, while those who came for coffee were often overworked students. It wasn’t unusual for them to have short fuses and complain about their order taking too long. Maybe that was part of the reason Eddie was so irritable when it came to Richie. He worked a lot and had to constantly keep his temper in check, so coming home to an annoying neighbor just made him snap.

                _Why_ did he keep thinking about Richie? The guy wasn’t even here and he was annoying Eddie.

                The man sighed and gripped the hem of his shirt, tugging it over his head and heading towards his bathroom to toss it into the hamper. He was a neat boy, he wasn’t going to just throw it on the couch like _some_ college boys _(cough, Richie probably, cough)_ would.

                He stepped into the bathroom, raising the shirt to throw it only to suddenly freeze. It was like time stopped for a moment as Eddie, eyes wide and full of near animalistic fear, zeroed in on a spot on the wall. A spot that wasn’t there normally. A spot that definitely was _not_ supposed to be there right now and— **_oh fuck it moved!_**

Eddie shrieked as the spider scuttled along the wall in his direction. In a panicked frenzy, he balled his shirt up and pegged it at the spider as hard as he could, only to have it hit the wall a good foot away from it. He turned on his heel and fled the bathroom, not even pausing to grab a shirt out of his bedroom on his way to the hall. There was no time to think while _that thing_ was in his home.

                His heart was racing as he found himself stood outside of Richie’s apartment door, fist raised and ready to knock. He actually hesitated for a moment before pounding against the hard wood, much like his first night here. Richie could be a nuisance, yes, but he was the lesser of two evils right now.

                It was quiet inside the apartment and for a moment, Eddie was terrified no one was home and he’d just have to live in the hallway for forever, but his ears were blessed with the soft click of Richie’s lock a moment later. The door creaked on old hinges as it was pulled open.

                Richie looked uncharacteristically gloomy as his face was revealed, but as soon as he saw who it was, he was lighting up like a fucking Christmas tree, that signature grin of his forming. It only grew when he noticed Eddie was shirtless.

                “Wow, it’s about time, I’ve been dropping hints that I—“

                “Shut the _fuck_ up!” Eddie exclaimed, his voice raising in pitch the way it only did when he was flustered or panicked. For once with Richie, it was the latter. He didn’t want to hear whatever stupid joke he was about to make, this was an emergency. Basically life or death. “There’s— there’s— I need— Come in my apartment and help me!”

                Richie blinked slowly before licking over his lips and letting his gaze drop back to Eddie’s bare chest again.

                “Well, I’m used to shirtless boys showing up at my apartment and begging me to come to theirs, of course. But you’re definitely the cutest by far.”

                “Richie, shut up! I’m serious. Please.”

                And that seemed to finally make him cut the joking shit out. Eddie had never actually called him Richie before. It was usually either the very original _Tozier_ or _trashmouth_. Occasionally _prick_ , but that was mostly saved for when Eddie was mumbling under his breath as he left.

                It was then that Richie also seemed to finally notice the state Eddie was currently in. He was the picture perfect definition of fear, with the wide eyes, flushed face, and trembling hands. He sobered up quickly, the grin melting away into a concerned frown as he gave the tiniest of nods.

                “Okay, yeah. Shit. Sorry. What’s wrong?” He asked, closing his door behind him and waiting for Eddie to lead the way. And he did, thinking about how strange it was to hear Richie talk in such a soft and sincere tone. It was…nice. Soothing. A voice Eddie wouldn’t mind hearing more often. But now wasn’t the time for that.

                He led Richie into the danger zone that was his apartment currently, but lingered by the door rather than adventuring inside anymore. That thing could be anywhere by now, he wasn’t risking it. The situation would probably be funny to him later, but he really was petrified of spiders and at the moment, he couldn’t shake the terror. Just the thought of one of those hairy legs brushing his skin—. He shuddered and curled in a bit, shoulders hunched slightly as his arms started to snake around his middle to hug himself.

                “There’s a…a fucking spider in my bathroom. I can’t look at it, fuck. You have to kill it. Murder the little fucker, please." It was a weird mix between an order and a plea. He definitely wasn't _asking_ Richie to kill it, the guy wasn't leaving until that spider was gone. But his tone just wasn't confident enough to get that across.

               “A...spider?” Richie’s bewilderment seeped into his voice. Clearly he’d expected something bigger with the way Eddie was acting. Eddie expected him to start teasing him for it because that was definitely a Richie thing to do, but after a long pause, he just nodded and made his way towards the bathroom.

                Relief flooded Eddie as he stayed put. He shifted anxiously from foot to foot, waiting for Richie to return and tell him his home was safe again. Unfortunately for him, though, when Richie did pop back into the room again, it was with a little shake of his head and an apologetic face.

                “It’s not in there, Eds. I looked on the ceiling, the walls, behind the toilet, everywhere. I’m sorry.” Eddie couldn’t even bring himself to be angry that the man called him Eds because he was too worried about where that little creep bug had gone.

                “Oh. Oh, well—. You have to stay then! I’m not going to be alone in my apartment with that hairy thing running around.”

                “Okay.” Richie must have taken pity on him or something when he saw the way Eddie was still huddled close to his apartment’s door frame because why else would he have agreed to stay? “But you need to calm down a little. He’s not gonna hurt you, he’s more afraid of you than you are of him.”

                Eddie’s nose scrunched up at the spider being referred to as a _he_. “It! It’s an it. And I don’t know about that, it didn’t look to scared earlier when it started coming after me!”

                His melodramatics earned him an amused eye roll from Richie, the man slowly approaching him as if he was a scared, cornered animal. Which, yeah, accurate. But he wasn’t scared of Richie.

                “Whatever, it. It’s not going to hurt you. Come on.” Richie sighed, carefully sliding his hand into Eddie’s to pull his arm away from himself. To his surprise, Eddie actually let him. “You’ll feel better if you just chill for a minute. I don’t have anything to do for the rest of the night, so I’ll be here as soon as it comes out of hiding and then it’ll be gone. Okay?” He slowly started to pull Eddie away from the door way and towards the couch.

                Eddie bit roughly at his lower lip, eventually giving in with a reluctant nod. His brain helpfully reminded him that they were still holding hands and that Richie’s was pleasantly warm in his own. That, coupled with the fact that he was still using that abnormally soft and caring voice, contributed to him suddenly becoming a significantly weaker gay. Maybe he could be nice for a little bit, too. At least until the spider was gone, he reasoned with himself. After all, if Richie could be civil, anyone could be, let’s be honest.

                “…Okay. Yeah, you’re right.” He agreed, slowly sinking down onto the couch. It was old and almost uncomfortably lumpy, but it had come with the apartment, so he had no right to complain. Richie’s hand slipped from his grasp and for a second, he really missed it, but that feeling passed as quickly as it had come.

                Richie was about to plop down beside him, but Eddie suddenly realized he was still shirtless and now that the initial panic had passed, he had plenty of room in his brain for embarrassment. And boy, was there a lot of that to go around.

                “Wait!” He cried out, louder than he’d meant to. It was enough to make the other man jolt in surprise, eyes widening as he glanced over. “I— Um, can you…I need a shirt. Can you, like, grab one off of a hanger in my room…?” And really, he knew he was being totally unfair. He’d basically spent the better part of the past few weeks despising Richie’s existence and using every chance he got to remind him of it, yet here he was asking for favors. Was….was he the annoying neighbor in this scenario?

                “Well, fuck, you could just ask next time. Scared the shit out of me, Eds.” Richie tutted lightly. Eddie was bewildered that he didn’t once complain about all that was being asked of him, but he couldn’t bring himself to mention that. Instead, he just tried for a sheepish smile before the words processed and it dropped into an annoyed scowl.

                “Don’t call me that.” He called after the retreating back of Richie. And if his eyes betrayed his annoyed façade by looking a bit too fond, well…no one was looking to see.

                “Right, got it, spaghetti head.”

                Eddie groaned. Not an improvement at all.

* * *

 

                Ten minutes later found Eddie nice and cozy in a sweater from his closet and both boys sitting on the couch (two cushions apart because they weren’t gay. (Well, to be fair, Eddie was, he wasn’t sure about Richie.)) An awkward silence hung in the air of the room, nearly suffocating, until Eddie kind of felt like he needed his bullshit placebo of a childhood inhaler again. It was just…he wasn’t sure what to say to him considering all he really knew about the guy was his name and _(of course the one fucking time Eddie wants him to talk)_ Richie was silent, too. He fidgeted his fingers together before meekly speaking up.

                “Uh, do you wanna, like…watch something? Or…something…” He asked quietly, taking a hesitant peek over at Richie. _So eloquent,_ he thought sarcastically to himself.

               He’d been trying really hard not to look over at him for the past few minutes because he was scared he wouldn’t be able to look away. It was just…his apartment’s lighting was a lot better than the hall’s and it made the smattering of freckles across his cheeks and the bridge of his nose stand out more.  It was unbearably adorable, he hated him so fucking much. _Look away, Eddie, look away!_

                He did, snapping his gaze away to stare at the dark TV.

                “Or something?” Richie snorted in amusement and gave a careless shrug, melting back into the couch. “Sure, shortie. Put something on. We’ll probably be here for a while, anyway. Can’t imagine that spider is gonna be coming out anytime soon. Hah, me in middle school.”

                Eddie couldn’t help the surprised laugh that managed to tumble from his lips at those words. Well, that answered that question. Just a couple of gays being dudes in here, nothing to worry about. After the initial amusement passed, though, the nickname clicked in his head and he huffed, cutting a glare towards Richie.

                “I’m not short. Just because you’re, like, part ogre or something…”

                “Part ogre? Are ogres even supposed to be tall?”

                “Shrek was! Kinda…right?”

                “Oh my god. I can’t believe you’re using Shrek to defend your logic. I’m rubbing off on you, Eddie Spaghetti.” He paused and Eddie hated that he knew what he was about to say. “…Or, I mean, I could be.” He winked playfully.

                Without hesitation, Eddie kicked a foot out and caught Richie’s shin, making the other wince lightly and scoot even further away, pressing into the arm of the couch. _Good_ , Eddie thought smugly. He deserved that kick for always making him a blushy mess.

                Rather than give Richie the satisfaction of actually acknowledging his joke, he scrunched his nose up in distaste and shifted in his seat, struggling to get comfy on the lumpy couch.

                “Stop calling me that. It’s horrible. And it doesn’t even make sense. Like, trashmouth for you makes sense, but Eddie Spaghetti?” He scoffed, arms crossing over his chest. Even though he’d mentioned putting a show on just moments ago, it had already slipped his mind as he was drawn into bickering _( ~~flirting~~ )_ with Richie.

               Richie’s eyes lit up as if Eddie had just given him a precious gift and he immediately felt wary of whatever was about to be said. He leaned away from his arm rest and Eddie’s heart skipped a beat nervously when he noticed how close he was getting. What the fuck did Richie think he was doing? And why the fuck didn’t he want to stop what he thought was about to happen?

                Rather than any lip-on-lip contact,  like he'd expected, Eddie was surprised to find Richie grabbing his arm in gentle hands and flopping it around like it was….a limp noodle. Okay, yeah, he got it.

                “Eddie Spaghetti.  You got spaghetti arms, hello? It’s like it was meant to be!” Richie proclaimed proudly, a toothy grin frozen on his pretty face.

                Of course, Eddie knew there was probably no malice behind that comment, but all the slights towards his body were starting to draw old insecurities out in his mind. This was exactly why he knew all of Richie’s stupid flirty jokes were just that, jokes. Richie was, like…model material. He didn’t get why someone like that would take any kind of interest in someone like Eddie.

                His sudden mood change must have been easy to sense because a second later, a hand was on Eddie’s chin, startling him. He jumped, turning to look at Richie in confusion.

                “Hey, you know I’m kidding, right? I wouldn’t make fun of something I didn’t find adorable about you. Which is why I basically make fun of everything about you. You’re seriously probably the most gorgeous person I’ve ever seen.” Richie spoke slowly, as if he was actually putting thought into his words for once in his life. Eddie tried desperately to ignore the warmth that was spreading through his chest and making his stomach flutter, but god, the effect Richie had on him was so unfair.

                “…Well, you’re not too bad yourself. For a trashmouth, anyway.” Eddie shyly grumbled after a bit of hesitance. He even managed a playful little smile of his own, gaze locking with Richie’s. He received a genuine smile in return, as if those silly words had just made Richie’s entire week.

                It was silent for a long moment before Richie’s hand dropped from his chin and the man settled back into his seat again, though now they were much closer than before. Eddie wondered when he himself had scooted over.

                “Right!” Richie exclaimed after clearing his throat, snatching the remote off of the coffee table and turning the TV on. “Time to watch something or something.” He snickered, booting up the Netflix app as soon as the screen was lit up.

                Eddie scoffed and leaned back as well, delivering a swift but gentle elbow to Richie’s side. “Shut up, trashmouth.”

                “Never, Eddie Spaghetti.”

* * *

 

                Somehow, Eddie let himself be talked into watching Shrek with Richie. He was reminded that the movie itself wasn’t even bad, it was pretty funny, actually, before it had been meme’d. And it was even better with Richie beside him, which he wouldn’t have expected to ever think just a few hours ago.

                Richie spent much of the film testing out the different voices of the characters and making Eddie giggle quietly to himself with all his dumb jokes.

                _“DONKEY! Stop being such an ass.” Richie shouted out in the worst Scottish accent Eddie had ever heard, waving a hand out dramatically as he did so. Before Eddie even had a chance to respond, he was dropping the accent and speaking again. “Ha, get it? Donkeys are called jack-asses?”_

_“Yeah, Richie, I got that.” Eddie laughed, shaking his head. “Hey, do me a favor and never go into voice acting.”_

_Richie gasped, a hand flying to grasp at his chest where he must have thought his heart was. “I’m wounded! You wound me. My accents are perfect! You’ll regret this when I’m famous, spaghetti head.”_

_Eddie rolled his eyes and shrugged, dragging his gaze away from Richie to focus on the scene on TV. “Don’t call me that.” He huffed, as if it was an instinct by now. “I guess I’ll have to deal with that then. And your heart is more towards the left of your chest, not the right.”_

_Richie didn’t seem to care that he was corrected, he simply switched his hand to be closer to his actual heart once he had Eddie’s attention again. “You didn’t deny that my accents are perfect! I think you secretly loooove them.” And, oh god, no, was that supposed to be a Donkey impression?_

_“You think wrong, Donkey!” Eddie replied in his best Shrek voice (spoiler alert, it was bad). He didn’t know what came over him, he wasn’t usually the type to make silly faces or use goofy voices like that, but he saw the chance. And, well, it was Richie._

_Speak of the devil….Richie just kind of stared at him, speechless, for a long minute before his face cracked into (possibly) his biggest grin yet and he laughed. The sound of it twisted something in Eddie’s gut. Oh god, he was pretty gay for Richie right now. How could this happen? When did this happen?_

_“Eds! Who knew you had it in you? That was amazing!” He enthused, throwing an arm around Eddie’s shoulder and giving the small boy a little shake. It most definitely was not amazing, but Eddie found himself beaming at the praise, anyway. The bit of anxiety that surfaced, believing he’d be made fun of for being silly, disappeared effortlessly._

_“Yeah, well, I guess I had a pretty good Donkey.”_

                Eddie’s gaze now traveled slowly to Richie, admiring him with a fond softness he didn’t believe he’d ever be able to feel for him. His arm had never left his shoulders and at some point, their knees had ended up pressing together. He was kind of dreading the end of the movie when Richie would pull away and all of his warmth would fade in seconds. At the moment, he just wanted to press closer and forget about the rest of the world for a while. It was hard to believe that Eddie genuinely thought he’d hated this man at some point.

                His eyebrows furrowed together slightly at the reminder and he caught his lower lip between his teeth, nibbling pensively at it.

                Eventually, Richie’s gaze found its way to Eddie, giving a surprised blink at finding his eyes already on him. Eddie blushed, hating that he was just caught staring.

                “Hey, you okay?”

                “Uh, yeah. I was just…thinking about my first day here.” Eddie admitted with a slight nod. He felt Richie shift beside him, a small hum falling from his lips.

                “Oh, right. The day we became mortal enemies.” He agreed. Eddie lazily nudged him with his foot at the dumb remark. “Seriously, though, I was starting to think you really hated me! Over music, of all things.”

                Eddie, rightfully so, was suddenly flooded with embarrassment for the way he’d been acting. Now that he understood where all that anger was coming from, he felt ridiculous. There was a fine line between playful banter and just unnecessary rudeness, and he’d been blurring the line since they met. It was just…he didn’t know how to deal with his emotions properly and rather than acknowledge them, he preferred to act on the opposite. He’d initially felt a strong attraction towards Richie, so of course he dealt with it by convincing himself he actually hated him.  Plus, he was kind of angry about all the flirty jokes because he knew they couldn’t be serious and it hurt to think about. It was almost as if his emotions were being toyed with without Richie trying.

                “Um, I kind of did for a while, too. Sometimes my anger gets the best of me and I’m really good at holding grudges, so. Plus, you _were_ kind of a dick to me at first, to be fair.” He reasoned, poking his tongue out playfully. Richie’s eyes dropped to watch it right away before he seemed to catch himself and quickly looked back at Eddie’s eyes. For a moment, he wondered if he’d imagined that.

                Richie suddenly looked a bit sheepish and turned his head away, staring at the TV where the credits had begun to roll. “Yeah, I was kind of tipsy. I know I’m normally pretty out there, but as soon as I get a drop of alcohol in my system, my filter goes away. Sorry about that.”

                “You have a filter when you’re sober?” Eddie joked, delighting in the sound of Richie’s responding chuckle. “Ah, don’t be sorry. I’m sorry for being a dick, too.”

                “Does this mean you’ll finally accept my hallway flirting instead of just flipping me off? Don’t get me wrong, it’s really cute and I love a good challenge, but a guy starts to get doubts after a while…”

                Eddie didn’t fully process what was just said to him and opened his mouth to reply, bumping his knee against Richie’s absently before it clicked. Wait…his flirting wasn’t a joke?

                Just as he went to speak up, he happened to catch sight of movement behind Richie. His breath hitched and he jerked away from the man’s arm as he realized that stupid fucking spider was on the wall right behind them.

                With a scream that could make any horror movie actress jealous, Eddie flung himself off of the couch and raced towards the door, cowering there while he waited for Richie to do something.

                “Kill it, kill it!” He shouted, whatever mood had been building shattered to pieces thanks to his very own, eight-legged nuisance.

                Richie, startled by Eddie’s sudden fear, had also jerked back, but he recovered a lot quicker than Eddie. He stood from the couch and moved to retrieve a shoe. Just as he was ready to smash the bug, Eddie’s voice halted him.

                “Wait!” Eddie grimaced and shifted from foot to foot anxiously, wringing his hands together. “Don’t kill it, just— just trap it in something and let it outside!”

                He felt bad having the spider assassinated. It was just looking for a place to build its home, after all. And maybe he kind of owed the spider for giving him reason to actually hang out with Richie.

                “I—. Jesus, Eds.” Richie sounded exasperated, but when he looked over, he practically had hearts in his eyes. Maybe Eddie was a huge idiot for not noticing the way he looked at him sooner.

                Without further complaint, Richie vanished into Eddie’s kitchen to grab a cup. By the time he returned to the living room, Eddie had a piece of paper to pass him and his gaze was glued on the spider, making sure it didn’t vanish once again.

                Slowly, Richie snuck back towards it and, in one fluid motion, had trapped the spider in the cup. Carefully, he slid the paper between the wall and the cup, successfully capturing it.

                “Huzzah! Fear not, your highness, for I, your noble knight, have slain the beast!” Richie puffed his chest out with pride as he shuffled towards the front door. Eddie, on the other hand, made sure to move far out of his way, fast. He didn’t want to be anywhere near the spider. “Stay here, safe in your castle, while I dispose of the wretched monster who dared frighten you! I shall return.”

                Eddie’s heart was pounding, but now he wasn’t sure if it was residual fear of the spider or because Richie’s knight voice, as lame as it was, was really cute.

                There was a weight off of his chest, knowing he wouldn’t have to be afraid of eating a spider in his sleep tonight (though, he was pretty sure he’d read that was a myth), and it was all thanks to Richie.

                So when the man came walking back into the door, cup in hand but no spider in sight, Eddie walked up to him, took the cup, and set it aside. Then, he was leaning up to press a soft kiss to his cheek. Almost instantly, he could feel it heating up beneath his lips and he was sure he himself had a matching blush.

                “A kiss for my hero knight. Thank you.” He murmured, not daring to look up and see his reaction.

                After a moment, Eddie felt a warmth  against his forehead and Richie placed a gentle kiss there. “Anytime, Eds.” Was whispered to him sincerely. And he didn’t even feel an urge to correct the name this time.

                He drew in a deep breath and used all of his courage to lift his gaze, meeting eyes with Richie. A timid smile found its way onto his lips and he extended his arms, palms out, to give him a light push towards the door.

                “Um—. Yeah, I just—. It’s…it’s late now. So…so you should probably head back to your place. But…really, thank you. And, uh, sleep well. I’ll see you tomorrow in the hall…?”

                Richie nodded without hesitation, slowly stepping backwards towards the door frame. “For sure, cutie. Wouldn’t miss it for the world.” He paused in his steps before hurrying forward in what seemed like a split second decision. He pecked the corner of Eddie’s lips, it only lasted for a second, before pulling away again. “Sweet dreams, Eds.”

                “Sweet dreams, Richie.” Eddie breathed out, caught off guard by the sudden little kiss. That was nothing compared to Richie. The man was obviously very flustered by his own actions and he watched fondly as he quickly stumbled out of the apartment and back towards his own.

* * *

 

                The next day, after a long shift at work, Eddie stepped into the hall of his apartment building and was greeted by a familiar sight. Richie was lounging in front of his own door, very clearly waiting for him to show up. When he noticed Eddie, he perked up like a puppy whose master had finally arrived home.

                “Spaghetti man! Hey, uh. I’m pretty sure I saw a spider go into your apartment a few minutes ago. Sooo…you should probably go out to dinner with me while we wait for it to leave, yeah?”

                Eddie’s lips slowly curved up into an amused smile, head tilting to the side as they stared at each other. Richie just smiled innocently, but anyone who knew Rich knew there was nothing innocent about him.

                “Just a tip, trashmouth? Um, when you’re trying to pick a guy up, maybe don’t start off by calling him spaghetti man.”

                “It’s a yes, then?”

                “…Yeah, it’s a yes. Let’s go, idiot.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this one shot! I couldn't shake the need to write this, so here it is. This is also my very first time ever writing as Eddie (or anything from the It fandom actually), so hopefully it wasn't garbage.
> 
> Was the title lame??? I thought it was kinda funny because spider webs are sticky??? Idk.
> 
> If you enjoyed it, I'd appreciate a nice comment! I'm trying to improve my writing and being told what I do well would be helpful because I feel like I do it all badly, rip. Thank you! (:


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